Catching Kent Read online

  Harriett chuckled as they stepped onto the porch. “Rose, you can’t expect him to marry you just because you tell him you want him to. He has to discover how lovely you are for himself.”

  “He already knows how lovely I am. He’s just refusing to acknowledge his feelings for me. I know he’ll admit them at some point, but it’s not easy to wait.”

  Harriett shook her head. “Come on. Adam’s waiting for us.”

  She turned her attention to the buckboard wagon as Adam pulled it up to the porch. She frowned when she saw that Kent was sitting up front next to her brother. Stepping down the porch steps, she called out, “Shouldn’t Kent sit in the back?”

  “He said he wanted to sit up front and get a good view of the land.”

  “But the view is good in the back, too.”

  Kent finally looked at her. “Maybe I don’t want to sit with you.”

  “Why, that’s ridiculous,” she replied. “We’ll be sitting with each other for the rest of our lives. There’s no reason to avoid it just because we aren’t engaged yet.”

  “Rose,” Adam warned, “stop pestering him and sit in the back. Everyone knows you want to marry him. No one cares. And Kent’s made it clear it’ll never happen. The best thing you can do is bid on someone else.”

  “Thank you,” Kent told him.

  “She’s wearing all of us out,” Adam replied as he stepped down from the wagon. “You don’t mind sitting in the back, do you, Harriett?”

  “No.” Harriett handed him her basket and accepted his help into the wagon. “Come on, Rose. We’ll be in town before you know it.”

  With a sigh, Rose set her basket in the wagon and let Adam help her in. She sat beside Harriett and glanced at Kent. He might not be sitting with her now, but as soon as she won him, he’d have to. Feeling much better about the situation, she turned her attention to the hills in the distance as her brother led the wagon down the worn path that would take them to town.

  “It’s a perfect day for a picnic, don’t you think?” Harriett asked her.

  “It is. I wish all days could be as nice as this. Not too hot and not too windy. Just right.” Lowering her voice, she asked, “Who are you going to bid on?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Why don’t you bid on Stan?”

  “Because Stan doesn’t want me. He wants you.”

  Rose glanced at Kent and Adam to make sure the men weren’t listening to them. Since they were talking, she was assured their conversation would remain private. “That’s the point. This afternoon is our chance to spend time with the man of our choice. For once, we don’t have to sit around and wait for the man to come to us. Why not bid on Stan? Unless you don’t like him?”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Afraid he won’t like it if you bid on him?”

  “Rose.”

  Noting the warning tone in her sister’s voice, she grew quiet and opened the lid of her basket to examine the food. It was a shame she wasn’t better at cooking. But maybe Kent would be satisfied with her rolls and sandwiches.

  She glanced at Kent who was still talking to Adam. Admiring his profile, she sighed. It was too bad she couldn’t wiggle a kiss out of him. She was pretty sure he’d never allow it, even if she did win the afternoon with him. She’d love nothing more than to feel his lips pressed against hers again. She was sure if a man kissed a woman on purpose, it would be much better than if she kissed him while he slept.

  She settled back beside her sister and enjoyed the rest of the ride to town. When they arrived at the park where the bachelor auction was being held, she hurried out of the wagon before her brother could help her down. Holding her basket, she ran over to Kent.

  “You’ll be in the bachelor auction,” she told him, deciding it best if she worded it as a statement instead of a question.

  Unfortunately, her ploy didn’t work. “I’m only here to see what time the train heading for California leaves Omaha.”

  “Oh, then I should go with you so I know when we’re leaving,” she said and followed him as he started to cross the street.

  He stopped and turned to her. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going with you. My place is by your side.”

  “No, it’s not.” He took her by the arm and led her back to the wagon. “Your place is here in Omaha with one of the men tripping all over themselves to spend time with you.”

  She followed him as he walked away from her. “You’re wrong. My place is with you.”

  Groaning, he stopped again and faced her. “Why are you making this so difficult?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

  “What do I have to do to get you to understand that we’re not meant for each other?”

  “Kent, the reason it didn’t work out with that other woman is because you’re supposed to be with me. There are no coincidences. You came here for a reason, and that reason is me.”

  He groaned and rubbed his forehead. “I’ve had enough, Rose. Go to the bachelor auction and bid on one of the many men who are vying for your attention.”

  Before she could answer, Adam came over to her. “Uncle Joel asked to talk to you.”

  She motioned to Kent. “But—”

  “Now. He needs your advice before the auction begins.”

  “Won’t you please be in the auction?” she asked Kent. “It’s for a good cause, and Uncle Joel really needs the money.”

  “I’ll give him some money,” Kent replied. “It’ll be more than however much you saved up to bid on me. Now go and bid on someone else.”

  She made a move to follow him as he crossed the street, but her brother groaned and led her to the wagon where her sister waited with her basket. “Stop chasing him. No man wants to be chased. You’re only going to make it so that he doesn’t want to be with you.”

  “That’s not true, Adam. Kent’s been hurt and deeply so. He needs someone who will prove she won’t give up on him.”

  “There’s a difference between annoying someone and not giving up on them,” Harriett argued.

  “I’m not annoying him,” Rose insisted.

  “I’d be annoyed if you kept after me like you keep after Kent,” Adam said.

  “That’s because you’re you. You’ve never gone through a heartache. You don’t know how hard it is for him to believe a woman truly loves him. He has a loneliness inside him you’ve never experienced. I know it seems like I’m pursuing him for no good reason, but the truth is, he wants to be with me. I can feel it.”

  He grunted. “I give up. You’re impossible. I really feel sorry for him. If a woman kept after me the way you keep after him, I’d be tempted to toss you into the river so you’d swim away with the current.”

  “I’d expect such a thing from a thoughtless oaf.”

  He put his hands on his hips. “Thoughtless oaf?”

  “Yes, you’re a thoughtless oaf. If you took the time to see what was going on around you, you’d understand that there’s more to Kent than meets the eye.”

  “He’s not a thoughtless oaf,” Harriett argued. “He’s trying to stop you from making a fool of yourself. Rose, you looked ridiculous, running after Kent like that. If he truly wanted to be with you, then he’d come to you.”

  Rose shook her head. “You’ll never get a husband if you sit around and wait for one to come into your life. You need to go out there and find him. If you keep sitting in the shadows, you’ll end up missing out on the life you could have had. Neither one of you takes any risks.” She glanced between them. “Adam, you’re twenty-five and you’re still living at home. Why do you let fear of running your own place stop you from buying some land and building a house on it? And Harriett, you adore Stan. Ever since we were children, you’ve secretly admired him, but you’re an adult woman now and no closer to being his wife, let alone his friend. And why? Because you’re afraid to talk to him, to let him know the kind of person you are?”

&nb
sp; Adjusting her hat so it was more secure on her head, Rose continued, “Before you tell me what to do or not do, consider how well your own advice has worked for you. Pa walked up to Ma in a train station, not knowing her, and he asked her to marry him. We’re here today because he took the chance. Then Isaac eloped with Emily even though he knew Pa wouldn’t be happy, and they’re even more in love today than they were back then. Then there’s Rachel who decided to be a mail-order bride. And Jacob took a chance and put money down on the mercantile when Ralph Lindon’s son sold it and is running a thriving business now. Where would any of them be if they were too afraid to take a chance? Kent took a chance in going to California to start a new life, and as fortune would have it, he ended up here instead. I know an opportunity when I see it, and I fully intend to pursue it, no matter what anyone says. You two can spend the rest of your lives scared of your own shadows, but I’m not going to waste my life wondering what could have been.”

  Adam and Harriett stared at her, both of their jaws hanging open in shock.

  “I suppose Uncle Joel really doesn’t need to talk to me, does he?” Rose pressed, directing her question to Adam. “You only said that to stop me from going after Kent?”

  Adam sighed. “No, Uncle Joel didn’t say he wanted to talk to you.”

  She nodded. “That’s fine. I have something I need to tell him.”

  Lifting her chin in the air, Rose bypassed them and headed for the park entrance. A good number of people had come out for the bachelor auction, and she was overjoyed that her plan had been such a success, at least in that respect. She found her uncle at the gazebo where he was talking to a couple of ladies about how the bidding worked.

  “We really get to bid on whichever gentleman we want?” one asked, her expression indicating it couldn’t be that simple.

  “Yep,” Uncle Joel replied. “This is the one time when you don’t have to wait for a gentleman to pick you.”

  The women giggled and left.

  He smiled at her. “Rose, I can’t believe how many people came to this event. You really had a good idea. I think the money I’ll raise will cover all the things I need.” Lowering his voice, he added, “I suspect the men are interested in finding out which woman will bid on them.”

  “I’m glad it’s turned out better than you hoped.”

  And she was. It was for a good cause. Even if she wouldn’t get to spend the afternoon with Kent, she had the rest of her life to be with him. Whatever the woman who’d broken his heart had been like, she wasn’t her. He was worth waiting for, and she’d wait as long as she needed.

  She dug the money from her pocket and handed it to her uncle. “This is my donation.”

  He frowned and counted the money. “This is a lot of money, Rose.”

  “It’s all the money I saved up over the years. I want you to have it.”

  “Without bidding on one of the men, possibly the one who’s been healing at your place?”

  With a shrug, she shifted the basket to her other hand. “He had to take care of something.”

  “Then another man perhaps? It’d be a shame to let all this money and your lunch go to waste.”

  “You’re very kind, Uncle Joel, but we both know no one will miss some poorly made sandwiches.”

  He chuckled at her joke. “They’ll miss out on your company.”

  “There’s only one man I want to be with.”

  Glancing at the coins, he sighed. “This is too much.”

  “I have no need of anything. I know you have some people who can’t afford to pay you for helping them but you take care of them anyway.”

  “Alright, I’ll take it.” After a moment passed, he added, “Since you’re not going to bid on anyone, would you like to help collect the money as the bids come in?”

  “I’d be happy to help.”

  He put his arm around her shoulders and they headed for the area where he was due to start the bidding. “Kent’s a lucky man.”

  Giggling, she couldn’t resist playing along. “Yes, he is, and next time you see him, you’ll have to tell him that.”

  He winked. “Don’t think I won’t.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kent told himself the only reason he went to the park was because he’d get bored sitting in a wagon for a couple of hours. At least at the park, he could sit on a bench or take a stroll and see which man ended up being forced to spend an afternoon with the woman who bid on him. The notion of women bidding on men was ridiculous. Only Rose would come up with something like that.

  But she was young and naïve to the ways of the world. She believed in happy endings, that anything was possible as long as someone wanted something hard enough. He’d once been that foolish. A part of him longed to be that foolish again. It’d been a season of hope, a season full of laughter and love. But the season couldn’t last forever, and he felt sorry for Rose when it came time for her to realize that not everything ended up in a happily ever after. She was bound to be devastated.

  He placed his hands in his pockets and slowed his steps as he approached the park where couples were sitting on blankets, talking and enjoying their meals. As much as he tried not to look for Rose, he found that’s exactly what he did. Which man had she chosen to spend the afternoon with?

  He scanned the faces, his eyes finally settling on the one that looked just like Rose, and his gut tightened. So she’d chosen to bid on Stan. But then he remembered Harriett had been wearing the green dress and relaxed. To his credit, Stan didn’t give away his disappointment. Kent knew Stan had his heart set on having Rose pick him.

  He continued his search, not willing to admit that he grew more and more nervous the more he couldn’t find her. If he’d only find her, he could rest assured that she would replace him with someone else as soon as he left Nebraska.

  When he finally saw her, however, she was alone. She sat on her blanket and ate her sandwich. He waited for a couple minutes, just to make sure someone wasn’t going to go over to her. And no one did.

  He crossed the lawn, passing several couples who glanced in his direction, but his focus remained on her. As soon as she looked up at him, his face warmed. “The walk through town didn’t take as long as I thought it would, and there’s nowhere else to sit so…”

  She motioned for him to sit next to her and opened the lid of her basket. “I knew you’d come so I saved you a sandwich.”

  “You didn’t know I was going to come over here.”

  “I knew we’d spend the afternoon together. It was just a matter of how.”

  If he was smart, he’d turn around and go right back to the wagon. There was no sense in encouraging her. Except, she had chosen to be alone if she couldn’t share the afternoon with him. Considering the men she had vying for her affections, he knew without a doubt that she wanted him. Only him. And that meant something. And maybe it was time to stop pushing her away.

  He sat next to her and accepted the sandwich.

  “You don’t need to worry,” she assured him. “My brothers will eat my sandwiches. It’s nothing like the stew I make.”

  Despite himself, he chuckled. “Granted, the stew wasn’t as good as what your sister or ma makes, but I suspect you put a lot of effort into cooking it.”

  “I did. That makes it worse, doesn’t it?”

  “I don’t think so. At least since you tried, you know you did what you could.”

  “I see no reason to avoid taking a risk just because something seems impossible, even when others tell me not to do it.”

  This would be a good time to warn her that not everything worked out the way she hoped, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He took a bite of her sandwich and swallowed it. “This is good.”

  “We might have to live on a lot of sandwiches, but we’ll be happy.”

  He almost choked on his next bite of the sandwich. “You take a lot for granted, Rose. All I’m doing is eating one sandwich.”

  “I can bake cookies, too.” She dug into the basket a
nd showed him the cookies she had wrapped in a towel. “These taste as good as they look.”

  As much as he wanted to sigh in frustration since she refused to even consider they might not get married someday, he felt a smile tug at his lips. “I’m sure the cookies are good.”

  “Wait until you have one before you make a judgment.”

  He accepted the cookie and ate it. “They’re good.”

  “You only ate one.”

  “I don’t have to eat all of them to know they’re good.”

  “Do you plan to eat more than one?”

  He shrugged. “I guess. I mean, it’s hard to limit yourself to just one cookie.”

  “That’s why I made a whole plate’s worth.”

  Since she still held the plate toward him, he gathered a few more. “Thank you.”

  After they finished their sandwiches, she turned to him. “Why did you come here? I thought you were going to wait at the wagon.”

  “I don’t know.” He ate his last cookie then wiped his hands on the cloth napkin she’d set beside the basket. “I saw you were by yourself and saw no reason to let the food go to waste.”

  She shot him a knowing grin and leaned closer to him. “You wanted to spend the afternoon with me.”

  “You’re the only woman here who doesn’t have someone to eat with,” he countered.

  “Why don’t you just admit that you want to be with me?”

  This time he did sigh, and he did it loud enough so she would have to notice it. He rose to his feet, not surprised when she followed suit and did the same. “I think I will go to the wagon. Alone.”

  She grabbed his arm before he could walk away. “Let’s go for a walk. I’ve always wanted to go for a walk along the pathway that goes over the bridge, but no one’s ever been willing to go with me.”

  Somehow he doubted that she made an attempt to ask other men to walk with her to that bridge because they would have jumped at the chance if she had. Even now, he couldn’t help but notice the way a couple of men, Stan included, glanced their way, envious of him. If she snapped her fingers, they’d come running to do whatever she wished. But he knew what she really meant was that she always wanted to go for a walk to the bridge with someone who meant something to her, and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that was flattering.